Motorists mobilise to challenge Sars over foreign-registered vehicles
· Citizen
Nearly 2 900 motorists have signed up for a planned class action suit against the South African Revenue Service (Sars) over a requirement that foreign-registered vehicles declare these vehicles on its Traveller Management System (TMS).
The new requirement introduced in June 2026 applies to all foreign-registered vehicles in SA, including those of the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) members: Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho and Namibia.
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The vehicles can be registered online or at the border, with Sars issuing a temporary import permit valid for six months.
Tens of thousands of second-hand foreign vehicles, mostly from Japan, are sold each year in countries like Lesotho after they have been imported from abroad.
They are not allowed to be sold in SA in order to protect the country’s local vehicle manufacturing sector.
Motorists from neighbouring countries have complained for years of bullying by Sars customs officials when driving foreign-registered vehicles on SA roads.
Some of these cars were impounded and only released when fines were paid.
Other vehicles have been destroyed in towns near the SA-Lesotho border crossing, such as Ficksburg in the Free State.
Moneyweb previously reported on the case of Ficksburg-based businessman Joaquim Alves whose Lesotho-registered Nissan Serena, then valued at R40 000, was impounded by customs officials who claimed he needed an import permit to travel on SA roads.
Alves disputed this, went to the municipal pound to retrieve the vehicle and was later arrested for theft (of his own vehicle).
He was detained for a weekend and ended up in hospital due to an aggravated medical condition.
The local magistrates court ordered the release of the vehicle, though Alves says Sars did not comply. He took the matter to the Bloemfontein High Court and ultimately the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which dismissed Sars’s application for special leave to appeal.
Despite the massive expense on court cases over a R40 000 vehicle, Alves still does not have his car and suspects it has been demolished.
Alves and his legal team argue that Sars is overreaching its powers and misreading the Customs and Excise Act by demanding foreign-registered vehicles be declared as “imports” at the border.
Many residents in border towns like Ficksburg and Ladybrand in the Free State with Lesotho-registered number plates frequently cross the border to Lesotho and have complained of harassment by customs officials when they return.
‘Permits’
There is a huge market for these vehicles in neighbouring countries, where they can be purchased for as little as R30 000.
However, Sars says these must have valid temporary import permits to travel on SA roads, even though duties have been paid over to the Sacu when the vehicles were first imported.
What Sars is doing is unlawful, argues Alves.
“They force this [import permit] on owners of Lesotho-registered vehicles.
“This declaration is valid for six months and then it has to be renewed,” says Alves.
“One does not have to comply, yet most people are doing so. In effect they are admitting to importing goods to SA – which they are not,” he says.
“Sars goes further and states that failure to comply will lead to seizure of vehicle and penalties. This is about extorting money out of the public.
“Sars says a South African may not own or drive these vehicles. There is no legislation to this effect,” adds Alves, who has since reported the case to the South African Human Rights Commission.
‘Unlawful’ two-tier system
According to Mkhosi Radebe of MC Radebe Attorneys, which is organising the class action, the requirement that foreign-registered vehicles obtain temporary import permits when travelling to SA amounts to an unlawful two-tier system for members of Sacu.
Used vehicles are imported through the Durban container port and immediately shipped to Lesotho, where customs duties are paid.
“Our view of the law is that if you are driving in the common customs union, there are no duties payable,” says Radebe.
“Article 19 of the Sacu agreement generally prohibits levying further duties on goods imported from outside the common customs area when they move from one member state to another, subject to some exceptions.”
Sars responds
Asked by Moneyweb for a response, Sars notes that motorists are adhering to the new requirements, and the customs authority continues to perform its enforcement responsibilities in accordance with the law.
“South Africa has designed laws aimed at protecting and supporting its domestic motor vehicle manufacturing industry.
“South African residents may not unlawfully use vehicles that are registered and owned in another country on South African roads. No country in the world that permits that,” says Sars.
“Similarly, vehicles imported into South Africa are subject to the applicable import requirements, including duties and taxes where these are payable. The regulatory framework governing the importation of motor vehicles falls within the mandates of the relevant authorities, including Itac [International Trade Administration Commission] and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
“Sars’s role is to administer and enforce the customs and tax legislation that applies at the border,” it adds.
According to Radebe, Lesotho Import Cars Warriors now has 2 888 members signed up for the planned class action against Sars.
“We are waiting for Sars to announce Phase 2 of the declaration campaign. Phase 1 of the declaration in terms of Section 15 of Customs & Excise Act, was implemented on or about the 1st June 2026.
“We exchanged correspondence with Sars expressing our disagreement with their interpretation of Section 15.
“After receipt of our letters, Sars changed tack and said the implementation of the declaration will happen in two phases,” says Radebe.
“As soon as Phase 2 is announced, we will go to court.”
In a Frequently Asked Questions document, Sars says Phase 2 will deal with foreign-registered vehicles already in South Africa before 1 June 2026, used by people who are not currently crossing the border.
Phase 1 focuses on vehicles entering or leaving the country.
Shock at the border
A Ficksburg resident travelling back from Lesotho last week in her Lesotho-registered vehicle was told by a “cross and mean” customs official that “South Africans driving with Lesotho number plates inside SA will have their vehicles impounded”.
“I was very surprised and I felt shocked that there was such a law as I had been lawfully driving cars with Lesotho number plates inside South Africa and it was never a problem before,” she tells Moneyweb.
This is a common sentiment in these border towns where Lesotho number plates are visible everywhere.
Motorists with these number plates now want the courts to step in and rule whether Sars has overstepped its powers by demanding import permits to travel on SA roads.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.